SutureSelf
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SutureSelf

Chicago, Illinois, United States | INDIE

Chicago, Illinois, United States | INDIE
Band Rock EDM

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"Band Feature: SutureSelf"

Their music is an experience by itself that can widen the depth of souls when heard.
- Rock Scarz Magazine


"The Future of Industrial Music"

The future of industrial music. - Hollywood Music Magazine


"Album Review, "Evolve""

Suture Self was birthed as a solo project of Brandon Chase’s in 2001 and was initially known as 101 Damnations. After many years of experimenting with electronic music on his own, Brandon decided on making his project into a live band. Taking the spot of programming, bass, and vocals for himself, he brought in his wife, Ronay Chase, as vocalist, Joel Hollis on guitars, and Montford Whiteley on drums. Together they recorded and released their debut EP, New Skin, in 2010, soon after going into production for a full-length album.

Mastered beautifully and released October 4th, Evolve has emerged. With lyrics heavily driven by Brandon’s year spent in Iraq from 2006 through 2007, the hauntingly melodic voice of Ronay Chase, and professional instrumentation, this is an album I thoroughly enjoyed and will have for some time. Each song blends well from one into another, though each is of it’s own kind.

Throughout the album you can hear vocal clips inspired and derived from a couple of military related movies, giving us a taste of the harsh realities of what it is like for a soldier deployed during wartime in unfriendly or questionable territory. The lyrics are saddening, harsh, and blunt.

The first song on the album is “Full Circle”; a simple instrumental piece using strings, piano, and subtle drums with some poignant vocal clips, seemingly fit for a movie soundtrack. As I stated, it is simple but the music is bewitching.

Kicking the album suddenly up into high gear, Suture Self gives us “Left Out” for the second track. This song utilizes a bass guitar with some great rifts that bring to mind the bass playing of Jesse Keeler of Death From Above 1979. For specification, go look up Death From Above 1979's song “Going Steady”. With a bit of a post punk feel, the drums, lyrics by Brandon, and guitar revive the old feel of offbeat rock.

Continuing on with some bass guitar highlights, we lead into “Fifteen Years”, the third song on the album. The guitar playing is a little more metal driven and the drums are heavier, but they added in some synth, making the song a bit more poppy but mellowing the mood down a bit by bringing in Ronay for vocals. I don’t know what it is about Ronay’s voice that does it for me because she sings off key, but I find her vocals soothing. I can name several bands with singers who are off key, but that is what makes the band so beautiful. An iconic comparison is the beloved Morrissey. One cannot count the number of times his voice has cracked mid-song throughout his time with The Smiths, but if you replaced him with a trained vocalist I could not fathom loving the music as much.

The title track of the album, “Evolve”, is placed smack dab in the middle of the release as track five. Again, we are given some sound clips during resting parts of the song. I believe these clips came from a movie about the soldier and football player, Pat Tillman, who died under friendly fire in 2004.

The last song I will comment on is the “Damaged”, the eighth of the ten track release. This is indeed the Suture Self rendition of “Damaged” by Assemblage 23. Giving the song more of a rock feel but maintaining the synth, I have to admit to loving this remake just as much as A23's original.

For those that like to categorize bands into genres, this is one band that has me completely confused. They have classified themselves as a blend of Industrial, Metal, Electronica, and EBM. Though they have elements of these, you cannot classify them into these genres. Honestly, if I had to classify them I’d most likely have to say Gothic Rock so far as this album is concerned. All I know is that I’ve genuinely enjoyed listening to it and will continue to listen to it on those nights I’m feeling a bit on the post-punk side.

Keep showing the world your new skin, Suture Self. Carpe Noctem. - Coma Music Magazine


Discography

"New Skin" (E.P.), released May 2010
"Evolve" (full-length album), released October 2011
"Newer Skin" (remix album), TBA 2012

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Bio

Combining elements of industrial, electronica, metal, and EBM, SutureSelf are a band that doesn't fit into any one category. The debut EP, entitled "New Skin", was self-released by the band in the summer of 2010 to rave reviews. The band also won the first Rock Scarz Magazine contest, winning a full spread in the magazine for May 2011.

In April of 2011, the band entered the studio for the second time to record their first full-length album, entitled "Evolve". The album was completed and released in October of 2011 and contained ten total tracks, including a few re-works of songs that were originally featured on the "New Skin" EP and a cover of the Assemblage 23 song "Damaged", which has been praised by a number of fellow artists including Tom Shear of Assemblage 23.

Material for the follow-up album to "Evolve" is being kicked around, with some solid ideas already fleshed-out. A timeframe for the follow-up album hasn't been set yet, but it's in the works. Additionally, the band has remixes of some of the "Evolve" tracks from such artists as Caustic, Cynergy 67, Vein Collector, Biocarbon 13, N Y X, Short to Ground, and Microwaved that will be released in 2012.

SutureSelf has shared the stage with such notable artists as: Bella Morte, God Module, Imperative Reaction, Cylab, Ventana, The Ludovico Technique, System Syn, Lowe, and Cyanotic.

Major influences for the band are: William Control, Nine Inch Nails, Moby, Katatonia, Type O Negative, Skinny Puppy, KMFDM, Pig, Assemblage 23.